Daily Archives: April 23, 2013

If like The RR you thought the debut album Forked Tongue from UK heavy blues metallers Desert Storm was the dogs meat and two veg than their new album is going to excite places you never knew existed. Whereas the previous album from the Oxford quintet also boasted an avalanche of heavily boned riffs and sludge thick blues grooves not forgetting equally demanding rhythms, Horizontal Life expands it all to hungrier heights whilst drenching the results in a fire of passion and striking invention. The band has grown so impressively between albums, the new release holding a maturity and enterprise which makes its excellent predecessor look almost lightweight in comparison.

Formed in 2007, Desert Storm took little time in finding a greedy appetite locally for their formidably pressing sounds going on to breed a similar and larger following and hunger across the UK through their impressive live performances and festival appearances. They have also shared stages with the likes of Orange Goblin, Taint, Weedeater, Zoroaster, CKY, Winnebago Deal, Firebird, and Black Spiders across the years to ever increasing acclaim and swiftly growing fanbase. Forked Tongue added its impressive weight to their sturdy rise but with the sheer quality and brute force temptation of Horizontal Life you can only assume the widest recognition is waiting to embrace the thunderous quintet.

Released via Blindsight Records, the album opens with the charismatic and contagious Word to the Wise Man, a track which takes off from where last album left off, its care free swagger and magnetic lure of inciting thick riffs and crisp rhythms instantly addictive. The vocals of Matt Ryan are as grisly and throaty as ever whilst the bass of ChrisBenoist brings its own primal breath to stalk the ear within the fires of sonic excellence from guitarists Chris White and Ryan Cole. The blues fuelled lining equally excites the senses whilst the potent call of the guitar within the song is a French kiss for the ear.

Both Shadow of an Eagle and Astral Planes leap upon the passions with stirring craft and exciting melodic flames, the first off of a impacting spike of drums from Elliot Cole which sets up the strolling blaze of searching riffs and sonic temptation all again with a hooked persuasion which ignites energy and captivation. It is a scintillating romp with a familiar air to its curvature of infectious sounds and rich grooves as well as compelling enticement from its thoughtfully sculpted variation to gait and direction. Again the vocals of Ryan bring a rich whiskey breath to the encounter whilst the guitar solo sears the senses gleefully. The second of the pair again holds the ace card of being new yet a returning friend to the passions in many ways and like the previous songs commands hungry affection and commitment to its tremendous provocation.

The following No Slave to Master increases the heaviness and rapacious sound, its Orange Goblin/ Down like stance an air sucking beast coated in shadows and venom musically and vocally which has the need to devour the listener without offering the easier to digest swing and grooves of other tracks. Instead it unveils a light sucking intensity which is just as fascinating and magnetic, as does its successor Mr Strongbatch, a track equipped with carnivorous riffs and punchy rhythms. Its inviting groove does ignite a heat and barbed welcome which is impossible to be ignored and again has a confidence to its stroll which borders of aural cockiness which is irrepressible.

Both Enslaved in the Icy Tundra and Lunar Domes unleash corrosive riffs and an intensity which plenty of metal bands can only dream of, with the energy and vocal spite to match, whilst the second of the two from a bass driven aside, creates a passion exploiting mesmeric and abrasively smothering ending which is outstanding. It also marks the point where there is a shift in the album, Desert Storm exploring more of their progressive/psychedelic side than ever before. Firstly Titan steps forward within a sludge toned swamp of sound which shifts into a cavernous beckoning of noise Ryan growls the narrative with even stronger shadows in tow. The riffs still dictate the course of the song whilst a slow burning groove makes its declaration but once things slip away into a haunting evocative ambience, a wonderful exploration of band, imagination, and sonic beauty is unveiled. It is a startling and enthralling joy with a muscular finish to cement its impressive contribution to the now in place rapture for the album.

The release does not stop there as the serpentine treat of Shenzhen next twists and writhes all over thoughts, emotions, and the senses with reptilian chills, sonic ferocity, and wolverine rabidity before handing over to the best track on the album in Gaia. The song is pure sonic alchemy, a pungent soak of southern heat, eastern shimmering, western harmonies, and tribal instinctiveness. It is glorious, a masterpiece of aurally expressive songwriting and exhilarating imagination, and the undeniable proof of just how far and expansive Desert Storm can push themselves if they so wish.

Closing with a return to the uncompromising energies and trunk thick riffing in the Mastodon spiced Hofmann and the mercilessly contagious Scorpion to ensure further exalted satisfaction, Horizontal Life is a major triumph not only for the band but UK melodic metal/rock. It is explosive and impossibly impressive with Desert Storm putting a great many established signed bands to shame, long may they continue. A must have release.

Resolution is one of this year’s most generous gifts to extreme and experimental metal, such the quality and stature of the debut album from Irish metallers Chosen. The release is sensational, a primal predator of scintillating imagination and exhaustingly pleasing invention. Having missed out on their earlier EPs, this is an introduction to the site which has left us open mouthed in awe and drooling in passion at the immense violation of extreme excellence.

Cast as for fans of the likes of Nevermore, Gojira, Cynic, and Death, the album shows the band pulls far beyond limitations with their sound and surely anyone with an adventure for stylish and senses stretching hunger in their music will find a feast with Resolution. Formed in 2005 by Paul Shields (vocals/guitars) and David McCann (drums/percussion) as teenagers, Chosen crafted a strong fanbase for their uniquely sculpted and intrusive sound with the metal community in their homeland. Releasing a number of independent and well-received demos as well as acclaimed live shows around Ireland, the band then went through a number of line-ups changes. In 2008 the founding pair relocated to Vancouver for a successful year which included a Canada-wide tour, as well as playing a unique tribute gig to the late Chuck Schuldiner, before returning home in 2009 to record their debut album. On their return the band was reduced to just the pair as members quit which led to the project taking an undefined hiatus.

Shields and McCann eventually came together to move forward by pushing on with the recording of the album and entered the studio with producer Alwyn Walker to lay down the frame for the release whilst also looking for other musicians to bring in. Though successful on both counts the band was reduced to just the pair again, so the decision was made to complete the album just by themselves with Walker, Shields taking over vocal and bass duties too. From that journey what has emerged is an album which explores and ignites the senses and imagination for a furnace of blistering and uncompromising invention, a release which is like a sonic puppeteer leading thoughts and passions on a collision of riveting ingenuity, technical mastery, and unbridled confrontation.

The release opens on a jungle of rhythms from McCann, their lure irresistible as the guitar of Shields offers a veil of mystique to the start of Engines Of Belief. It is mere breaths lengths of time before the track ravages the ear with tumultuous rhythms and equally demanding riffs whilst further guitar manipulation skirts the senses and twists their thoughts with increasingly devilish designs. The harsh guttural squalls ride the intensity with gusto and venom whilst the clean vocals support their weight with magnetism as potent as the invention now rife within the fury of a track. It is a staggering start which claws at and gnaws upon the synapses with unexpected brilliance, a colossal fire of enterprise brought through greedy brutality.

Could the release from such a start prevent an antic-climax steeping forward next was the first thought but Defective Prospection and The Narcissism Epidemic both took no time in making the wonderment moot such their oppressive and inventive confrontations. Certainly the first of the pair does not find the same plateau of brilliance as its predecessor but still delivers an expanse of provocative investigation whilst the second song from its delicious acoustic lined welcome and emotive ambience steps into a maelstrom of ferocious inventive charges and a scintillating merger of melodic beauty and carnal savagery. It is a brilliant track rivalling the starter and again sending creative shock waves across thoughts and sparking thick ardour for it and the album.

The outstanding Diminishment with its mesmeric melodic peace veined by raptorial rhythmic persistence and bestial admonishment of the senses exchanging and entwining their pure hearts, and the equally thrilling Instinct with its Meshuggah spiced rugged textures and rhythmic spite, both sear new heights upon passions and the release whilst Asch’s Paradigm is a song which initially inspires a bedlam bred sinister air before evolving into a tempest of corrosive beauty and seductive severity. The second of the three is a psyche twisted progressive intrigue with imagination to its cryptic fascination and a destructive onslaught vocally and musically unleashed whilst Asch’s Paradigm is a malevolent tight wrap of blood boiling intensity persuaded to share its time with melodic elegance and wanton temptation.

The closing pair of Metaphysical Contradiction and The Departure Lounge seals the branding deal upon the heart with in the case of the first a conflict of balance disrupting sonic dissidence and the closer through an irresistible initial death metal ravishing with djent punctuation moving on to open up arms of melodic acidity and warmth. As it began and admittedly continued through every moment, Resolution ends on the loftiest pinnacles. The album is pure ingenuity and raging inventive passion to inspire the same potency in the reactions and emotions of the listener. Chosen is a tsunami waiting to happen for European metal and their album not only one of the very best this year but of the past decade, and there is no reason to miss out either as the self-released album is available as a Name your own Price download and also in a Deluxe Special Edition or a Collector’s Edition CD.

With a name which more than represents the contents of its creativity, Ukraine band Explosion Technology has an energy and sound which is a blazing fire of thrilling imagination. They make their world bow with debut album Proiavlenie, a release which is a tempest of styles merged into a bruising seductive invention and equally captivating ingenuity. Tagged as alternative/electro metal to which you can add industrial and nu metal as well as a punk fuelled passion, the trio from Balakleya has brewed a storm of enterprise which easily stands with the best of industrial and electronic metal releases this year and makes the case for being one of the most impressive debuts anywhere.

Formed in 2009 by the threesome of Andrey Slon (vocal, bass), Artiom Lukienko (guitar, programming) and Vladislav Alandarev (percussion), the band and music is soaked in the essences of numerous sounds and genres distilled to flavour their own distinctly contagious creations. Their first demo Voshod (Sunrise)in 2010, was well received upon its digital release whilst the band also grew strong acclaim for their live shows around the Ukraine. In August of the following year Explosion Technology began working on their first album which went on through to November of 2012 with the resulting nine track riot not only reflecting the band’s personal attitude to the modern tendencies of hard music industry but emerging as one of the highlights of the year so far.

The album opens with the rampant energy and strength of Звуки (Sounds), a track which immediately seizes the ear with sinewy electronic lures before opening up its full musculature forcibly driven by ear crowing riffs and combative rhythms. Now in control the song dances on the senses with heavy booted drums and intensity whilst the electronic spawn melodic persuasion swerves around and lures in the passions with a sizzling radiance and toxic kiss. Thoroughly contagious and almost able to defy being sung in Russian to recruit the listener in all capacities including voice, the song is a hungry and inviting sprawl of exhilarating enterprise and impacting provocation.

From the immense start the album ensures its tight hold on the appetite is secure if not tightened with both Плохое Кино (Bad Movie) and Больше Не Нужна (No Longer Needed). As throughout the album tracks are connected by atmospheric instrumentals in the style of thrillers and horror movies which adds its own intrigue and pleasing invention from which the songs spring from with ease and greater ingenuity. The first of the pair continues the Rammstein spicery bred in the opener but adds extra flavouring of the likes of Celldweller and Pitchshifter to its towering presence. Keys and guitars exchange glances and malicious teasing as they entrap and enthral whilst the rhythms from bass and drums stomp their own primal branding upon the senses to offer greater shadow and intimidation to the barbed melodic confrontation. Its successor is another and greater pinnacle of the album, its punk energy and metal attitude a twisting and exhausting triumph. Creating a storm of irresistible aggressive challenges and antagonistic invention, the song is a mix of Korn, Combichrist, and Biting Elbows which snarls, provokes, and riles the senses for a fury of potent pleasure sparking instinctive ardour.

Across the likes of the electronically caustic and metallically biting Импульс Жизни (Pulse of Life), the rapacious and darkly pulsating cyber expanse offered by За Пределами (Outside), and Триллер (Thriller) with its raging fire of electro vehemence and savage intensity, the album just consumes thoughts and emotions with striking craft and predatory efficiency, every note of every song loaded with spite and imaginative fascination in exchange for only the strongest and hungrily devouring responses in return. As found elsewhere, the brass seeded flames upon the last of this trio of songs carves out additional and distinct temptations to be bewitched by, as do those evocative links, pieces of music even in their brief breaths as thoughtfully engineered and crafted as the songs themselves.

Before its closure Proiavlenie confirms the might and stature of the album with the outstanding Замкнут В Пустоте(Closed In the Void), the equally stunning На Той Стороне (On The Other Side) its blackened symphonic air a suggestion which without being realised wraps its emotive grandeur around the erosive touch of the song, and the closing title track, translated as Manifestation, which exploits the now firm subservience of the emotions for further addict like rapture with its Numanesque instrumental persuasion. Proiavlenie is a magnificent introduction to a band which is sure to shape further similarly impacting moments in the future, something anticipation has already developed a lust for.

Money Grows On Your Knees the new single from poet and musician Mike Tyler is a deceptive little tease, a song which left indecision during certainly its first and even second excursion through the ear but all the while was working away and laying a hook which emerged again and again well away from its source. It is an addictive little creature which though still coated in a less than stable opinion is like a tic which is almost impossible to remove from thoughts and imagination.

Taken from his well-received album Erection of last year, the first thing to note and praise about the release is its packaging. Coming in a 7” green vinyl/CD bundle with a sleeve design complete with jigsaw front and lyric sheet back, the single takes one right back to the late seventies/early eighties when sleeve design and imagination was as rife and vibrant as the sounds they enclosed. It is an instant clutch of strong points on the board for The Art Can Not Be Damaged released single. It is also very apt for the artist from New York. Mentored in a bar by the poet Delmore Schwartz, Patti Smith, and Tom Verlaine of Television, Tyler has sculpted interest, respect, and inspiration with his words within others. World famous graffiti-smith Banksy stencilled his words “only the ridiculous survive” outside Paddington Station in London whilst Beck also was inspired by his charismatic pull when honing his song writing craft. Tyler became known as The Most Dangerous Poet in America after breaking his arm during a reading, and his poem The Most Beautiful Word in the American Language has found its place on the blogs, MySpace pages, and Facebook walls of a great many, not to mention fridge doors. He is a puzzle in many ways, an intricate confusion which the packaging of the single perfectly hints to and to further give relevance of the artwork the artist talks about his single by saying “My new single is such a lopsided seductive beast. Deep deep bass with a pop frosting and a growling lead yawp. It can be kind of sweet in places and then a dungeon-door-slamming-echoed-thud takes over; a contradiction in tones. It’s the boiled pot of the gumbo stew of black and white that is America; greed and innocence, joy and exhausted hustle. Might explain why we decided the packaging of the single would include an actual puzzle.”

Money Grows on Your Knees instantly punches the air with heavy pressing beats soon joined by great expressive keys and the straight face vocals of Tyler. He is not a natural vocalist, his spoken word delivery a dulled edge to the vibrancy of the music but it soon persuades the longer the track plays with the ear. The persistence of the rhythmic seduction and equally tempting bass is near irresistible whilst the keys craft a warm engagement which holds the hand as the songs opens up its summer framed by additional vocals from a sirenesque female voice and singing from Tyler both standing behind his core gait of delivery. As one would expect the lyrics make you think without needing to spend over time evaluating their coaxing narrative whilst the brassy bellows of the synths are like small fanfares in the sultriness of the song’s skies. An encounter easily described as Jonathan Richman meets Jona Lewie whilst John Otway and Mike Doughty add their support, it has proved its dangerous contagiousness as whilst writing the review up to this point and listening to its throughout, Money Grows on Your Knees has provided a conclusive argument and won its case…or maybe just worn down the defences, whichever it is a devious little treat.

Accompanying the song on the single is Corny Song, a new track from Tyler. Energetic and mischievous the song was inspired by a show in the UK where he was promoting the Erection album. It like the first is not an instant draw and has yet to convince but again it lingers and teases long past its expiry time.

For quirky, unpolished, and honest indie/pop devilment the single is well worth a fun filled amble with, but be warned it will not be leaving you alone from that point on.

The RingMaster Review

The RingMaster

Music writer/reviewer and band/release promo/bio writer.
Artists previously worked with include: In Vain, The Capsules, Solar Halos, Seneron, Crashgate, Able Archer, Machine Rox, Fahran, Centre Excuse, Evanstar, and many more as well as FRUK and Pluggin' Baby.

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Presenter of The Bone Orchard and RingMaster Review podcasts promoting the best underground bands and sounds from metal to rock, punk to noise and more; continually presenting the cream of new independent releases across all genres.

Dark poet at The Carnivale of Dark Words and Shadows http://carnivaleofdarkwordsandshadows.webs.com

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